San Francisco Crime Lab Still In Spotlight

April 19, 2010

Recently, I wrote about problems encountered by the San Francisco Crime lab which caused it to close down. Apparently, there are thousands of pages of documents sought by defense attorneys. In addition, the court inquired into how the District Attorney’s Office looks into criminal and/or misconduct committed by law enforcement employees. The District Attorney’s Office indicated it relied on law enforcement to provide the information. This position did not sit well with the court. The information sought by defense attorneys is necessary to determine if any evidence in pending cases as well as closed cases, including DUI / Drunk Driving cases, would come into question which could lead to further dismissals or reversal of convictions. In the meantime, prosecutors are collecting and maintaining records in case they will be needed later.